Welney Swans in Motion

Another trip to Welney and another sunset but as always different lighting and different behaviour from the swans to the previous visit. There was not so much light spillage after sunset so this time I went for slower and slower shutterspeeds. I like the final image of the day (1/15th second ISO 6400) as it gives the feel of the ghostly squadrons of swans coming in to land out of nowhere.

Ely Cathedral - How Not to Do It

 After much thought and lots of advice from various compact system users of different varieties, I decided to trade in my Sony Nex for a Fuji XT-1, partly on the quality of the images that I had seen and also the good battery life (very short battery life is the worst feature of the Sony Nex - they need to address this). Add to this the fact that  Phil and I can now share batteries, lenses. So it duly arrived and, as we were in Ely anyway, a test run in the Cathedral. Well you would have thought with all the teaching I do, I would have checked a few things - like was it on RAW - No, was the long exposure reduction OFF - No and was the colour space Adobe RGB - No. So some unrecoverable highlights, jpeg artifacts and some with too much noise reduction. But focusing works fine and pleased to see battery not showing any reduction in power after a couple of hours shooting.

Lake District Retrospective

 I have spent some time revisiting my collected images from visits to the Lake District in Autumn and  put together a Gallery for my Website. It is very interesting how much better a result is possible with the new ACR software raw  compared to the 2003 software.

(http://www.pin-sharp.co.uk/galidx.php?gal=18&sec=80)

Welney Wildfowl Trust II

 A few more from Saturday's visit showing how the light changed during the afternoon producing beautiful pink swans!

Sunset at Welney Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust

 A perfect sunset at Welney yesterday to watch the Whooper Swans flying in to roost on the Ouse Washes (around 8000 at the moment). Lynne, Mike and Jane watching from the comfort of the main hide while Chris and I enjoyed the fresh air (and it was) in the outer wings. As the swans flew in, the waders fly out to roost on the fields  and cormorants gathered on the telephone wires.

Night Photography in Cambridge II

Eight CCC members braved the cold on Sunday evening to have a go at night photography.It was a full moon night  which made the taking of a few more of images of King's College from the Backs  for a magazine article impossible so our best shots were from Garret Hostel Bridge where the moon was not in the frame. The first image shows the view towards Trinity - I love the way the Plough constellation (righthand side) is reflected in the water. This shot was taken 30secs, f8 iso 800. I also tried a long exposure (200secs ). This resulted in significant star  trails as expected; to get the exposure where stars do not leave a trail divide 600 by (focal length of lens X crop factor). So for 16mm lens this is 37secs.

  I also needed a picture of myself taking the shot - Phil obliged with this image. 

Christmas in Cambridge

A few images from around Cambridge on Sunday evening before we started the night shoot proper (next entry!). The fair on Parkers' Piece accompanying the ice rink is small but certainly not lacking colour.  When we first arrived in Cambridge (c3.15pm), we spent some time on the reflections in the windows on King's Parade, which gives some fascinating juxtapositions. As dusk approached, it was time for views of Trinity Hall and Kings with the tasteful Christmas lights. Then a quick session in the market before the fair and a warm drink!